Even You
by Sammie Writes
Summary: Separated from the group, an injured Kamui tells Flora just what she needed to hear for a long time.


Apologizes in advanced for any misinformation. I haven't played any route as I cannot read Japanese characters, and I'm only going by character and plot summaries on this.

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 **Even You**

When the Ice Tribe was safe Flora found Lady Kamui and Felicia and was genuinely surprised to find that Lady Kamui united the crown princes of both Hoshido and Nohr. And that there was a third kingdom between them, the method to get there was a little frightening and unorthodox to say the least. But it finally gave Flora the opportunity to swear loyalty to Lady Kamui and become one of her retainers properly.

Her duties as a maid remained much the same, while the campaign rested in the village Lilith and Lady Kamui created Flora took care of their mounts, kept Lady Kamui's tree house clean, and regularly fed Lilith and kept her shrine sparkling. She still could not quite get over how adorable the former stable girl had become. Or the fact that she was a dragon.

Flora did her best to stay out of everyones way during battle, her skill at weaponry was always sub par compared to Felicia's, but maybe she could be of use as a healer. But, more often than naught Flora needed to be rescued by someone, usually the green ninja, Kaze, as he was one of the few who did not get angry with her. Flora did ponder if that was because Kaze just so happened to be Felicia's new husband. It was always mortifying when either Prince Xander or Prince Ryoma had to come to her rescue. At times like that Flora often wondered if she should have just stayed with Lilith. Her ineptitude would just drag everyone down in the end.

And it finally did. She got herself and Lady Kamui lost in unfamiliar lands. While they tried to find the others Flora just stood uselessly by as Lady Kamui transformed and fought off more of Anankos' soldiers. What neither of them could have seen was that one of them had a Wyrmslayer, and they had successfully struck Lady Kamui. Lady Kamui managed to defeat her attacker, but when she reverted back to human her armor had broken and she was bleeding roughly where the Wymslayer struck her as a dragon. "Lady Kamui!" Flora exclaimed upon seeing the injury.

"Are you all right, Flora?" Lady Kamui asked her, leaning against the wall while her hand clasped itself over her wound. "You're not…"

Lady Kamui slumped against the wall and slid onto her knees. Her breathing became ragged, and her skin turned pale surprisingly fast. Flora had cried out Lady Kamui's name again; she quickly knelt beside her to remove her Lady's hand from the wound.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Flora's healing staff broke during the last scrimmage and she completely forgot to take a new one with her. It was her simple duty as a maid, to serve and protect Lady Kamui. And Flora couldn't even do that!

Flora bit her lower lip, hot tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. Her shoulder's began to shake. "F-Flora…?" Lady Kamui asked. "What's wrong? You're not-"

Her hands slapped themselves over her eyes and she let out a few sobs. "I can't do anything…" Flora said through her tears. "If I fail as a maid…"

She was the heir to the Ice Tribe, but Felicia was the better battler. She was the one who always had their father's love and attention, she was the one Father wanted as heir, he never said as much, but Flora just _knew_ it. Felicia probably wouldn't have forgotten her healing staff. Felicia would never have allowed Lady Kamui to be hurt. Lord know Jakob would have cut off his own ear before he allowed anything of this to happen. If she was an inadequate maid then what reason did Flora have to get up in the morning?

She should have stayed with the Ice Tribe. No she should just light herself on fire.

"Flora…" said Lady Kamui, "what's wrong…? Please, tell me."

"Nothing…" Flora said through a sob. "Nothing ever goes right. I'm not as strong as Lady Kamui… Felicia, Jakob, Gunther, Lady Azura, or the royal families… I always need someone to come save me… I don't know why I thought this was a good idea…

"I thought… I thought if I could be a good maid, a better maid than Felicia, then maybe I'd be worth _something_ …" Flora hiccupped as she tried to dry her eyes. "I got Lady Kamui lost, allowed her to be hurt, and I cannot even heal her… Nothing ever goes right… I do my duties as a maid and as eldest daughter of the Ice Tribe's chief… but I'm still miserable…" She hugged herself. "Miserable, selfish, weak and _petty_! I really am useless…"

Damn was she petty. Why couldn't Flora ever be happy for Felicia's accomplishments? Happy that Felicia could find love and happiness? Happy that she was as skilled as she was, with her sister's clumsiness Felicia must have seemed like an easy target to some. But no, Flora was always jealous of Felicia, even now she was jealous of Lady Kamui.

Flora's little confession did nothing to relive herself of these negative feelings she kept inside for so long. She tried to be a good daughter, a good warrior, a good maid. She tried not to complain when Garon forced herself and Felicia into servitude. She tried to keep Felicia's spirits up, to keep her from realizing what was really going on. Even now, she did the proper thing and asked for Father's permission to accompany Lady Kamui and Felicia. Wasn't that something a good daughter did? So why was she still so unhappy?

She knew a part of the reason.

"And then I see you with Jakob…" Flora said just above a whisper. "Just so happy together… you're the perfect relationship, always together… But, I can't ever have that…"

Not just with her beloved Jakob - her beloved Jakob, who fell in love with and married Lady Kamui - but with any other man. She was weak. Useless. Unlovable.

"Why not?" asked Lady Kamui. Flora looked Lady Kamui in the face. She looked tired, and her face had gone paler during Flora's pity party. "You clearly care enough to help the cause… end the conflict… What man wouldn't want someone of that passion?"

Lady Kamui gave her too much credit. Of course someone who managed to unite Nohr and Hoshido would think something like that. It was natural for a person like that to be able to wield the Yatogami.

"I'm not as strong as you think…" Lady Kamui spoke up after a pregnant pause. Flora noticed the furrow in Lady Kamui's brow, the look of anger in her usually warm eyes and the harshness in her words. "I've wanted to lash out every time I've been called traitor and I couldn't explain what was going on. I struck Takumi after Queen Mikoto died!"

Flora's brow rose in surprise, she had never known Lady Kamui to raise her hand like that to anyone, let alone one of her siblings. It was true that Lady Kamui did not know her siblings from Hoshido as the four from Nohr but it was just in Lady Kamui's character to try to bond with them. For Lady Kamui to have struck one of them…

"Everyone in this campaign has their own weaknesses," Lady Kamui continued, "and we can either choose to let then consume us or fight through them. I… I have my moments when I want to curl into a corner and cry. What do I know about this world? I spent my life in the fortress, what do I know about battle, about politics, or the conflicts between Nohr and Hoshido? Do I really understand how this world works? It's like I'm in over my head sometimes!"

Lady Kamui did not start to outright sob, but Flora could see the wet line that ran down her cheeks. She hated herself for not seeing it sooner, the pressure Lady Kamui must have felt as leader of the army. She rarely set food outside the fortress, and suddenly she was thrown into a war. All the realization did with confirm Lady Kamui's strength to Flora.

"But people still believe and trust me regardless," said Lady Kamui. "I struggle to stay strong because I know the impact I have on everyone. Do you think Xander and Ryoma would be fighting together now if I didn't have that impact? Would we have as many people with us if any of my siblings didn't have their own impact? Yes, I want to run and hide sometimes, but that's when I look to the others for strength. Flannel and Nishiki, Charlotte and Belka, Hinoka and Camilla, Azura, Ryoma, and Xander, Sakura and Elise. Everyone. Even you…"

Flora knew she was staring at Lady Kamui with wide eyes, a new set of tears started to prick at the corners of her eyes. Her chest felt like it was swelling so much she could burst right then and there. "You have the freedom to choose your own fate as any one of us," said Lady Kamui. Flora could see that her eyelids were growing heavy, she was going to fade out at anytime. "You get to choose how you spend your life…

"In the end… being strong is a… a choice…" Lady Kamui said in between pants. "And I've… seen you make yours… for years…"

"Lady Kamui…" Flora whispered. "Why would you tell me such things?"

"We're friends… aren't we…?"

With, what sounded like, a sigh Lady Kamui's head listed to the side. Her eyes closed and refused to open. She looked as still as the dead. "Lady Kamui!"

Flora immediately pressed an ear against Lady Kamui's chest. She could still hear her breathing and could make out her heartbeat. Thank goodness, Lady Kamui was still alive. Immediately Flora started to tear off long pieces of her skirt. First thing was first, she needed to stop the bleeding. She needed at leas three pieces before Flora felt satisfied with the makeshift dressing. It rendered Flora's skirt to virtually nothing, and exposed her kunai underneath, but it was the next best thing she could work with until she could get Lady Kamui to Lady Elise or Lady Sakura.

Getting Lady Kamui onto Flora's back was the difficult part. Her lady may as well have been a rag doll, and Flora wasn't even sure if she could carry her. But she wasn't about to give up without trying, not when Lady Kamui believed in her. She couldn't give up anymore. She wanted to be the person worthy of being looked up to by Lady Kamui.

She thought Flora was strong. She called her a friend.

The strained cry from behind them caught Flora's attention, she looked over her shoulder, and Lady Kamui's to find one of Anankos' soldiers approaching them. Flora's eyes widened. _Run_ , was her immediate thought, _drop Lady Kamui and run._

But she steeled herself before she could genuinely consider it. Flora was going to choose to be strong from here on out. She was going to take her life into her own hands. Immediately one of Flora's hands went for two kunai under, what was left of, her skirt. She turned towards the invisible soldier with a strong stance and one arm keeping Lady Kamui on her back. "You are not to lay a hand on Lady Kamui," Flora said simply, she was surprised with herself for how calm she sounded.

When the invisible soldier took another step forward Flora threw her kunai at it, lodging it in the shoulder. "That was a warning," Flora said darkly and with a calm, mutual face. "One more step and it will be your last."

She felt somewhat foolish as Flora had no idea if these soldiers could even understand what she was saying. So, she was not all that surprised when the indivisible soldier took another step towards them. Flora attacked to kill, she threw her kunai right at the soldier's neck. It was forced back, making a sound like blood was gurgling in its throat.

Flora did not take the opportunity to stick around and make sure it was dead. She readjusted her grip on Lady Kamui and ran. The fear of being chased had given her temporary super strength, enough for her to run for a few minutes straight before she needed to stop for breath. She was going to get them both out of this mess, and her life would be different. She wouldn't be Lady Kamui's maid just to make herself feel better, but because she was Flora's friend, even if she needed to go back to the Ice Tribe one day and take Father's place as chief. Lady Kamui would be a pillar of strength. And so would Felicia and her husband.

No more jealousy of Felicia, no more wallowing in her own self pity. The only thing that was keeping Flora from achieving what she wanted was Flora herself, she understood that now.

Flora wasn't sure how long she was walking for, every few minutes she stopped for a breather and to check on Lady Kamui. They, thankfully, did not stumble across anymore of Anankos' soldiers, but Flora did realize she couldn't just throw her kunai at them again if they did. She needed to keep them on her for as long as possible until they were found.

But then came a beautiful sight, a white Tenma glided just above them with a maiden in red, Lady Hinoka. "Over here!" Flora shouted waving one hand in the air.

Soon after she could see a horse carrying a young maiden with long, thick blonde hair, and a woman with pink hair galloping up to them. "We made it, Lady Kamui," Flora said, gently placing Lady Kamui down. "We found them."

When the horse came to a stop in front of them Lady Elise was the first off the horse. She ran up to Lady Kamui with her healing staff in her hands and carefully started to remove the makeshift bandages. Felicia nearly tackled Flora off her feet, crying into her shoulder.

And Flora just smiled, a honest, genuine smile.

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 **Authors Note:** A lot of this was blatantly taken from the Steven Universe episode Friend Ship. The more I learned about Flora the more I was reminded of Pearl. Really, I'd rather something like this happen for Flora than having her get some magical healing penis of tru luv. As the years go on I've really started to hate the idea of someone broken just needing tru luv then all their problems are gone *cough*phantomoftheopera*cough*.

No, what someone like Flora really needs is some good friends and a good support system first and foremost, work on what she need to work on, and THEN focus on a possible love life. I never really thought that Flora was in the right mindset for a relationship, let alone marriage and motherhood.

To briefly explain what Kamui meant by striking Takumi, that's my interpitation of Kamui after their first transformation. While Takumi's yelling at them, blaming them for what happened to the people, and to Mikoto, Kaumi whips around and slaps him before verbally lashing out at him, and THEN realize what they'd done. It's a headcanon that coincided pretty well in a story that discusses strength and weakness.


End file.
